Story ID: 024i
TOP FLIGHTS AWARDS NOMINEES: Sustainability
By: Jerry Siebenmark
Caption: Sustainability in aviation is a critical topic despite reduced flying activity during the Covid pandemic.
Word Count: 974
Business Aviation Coalition for Sustainable Aviation Fuel
The Business Aviation Coalition for Sustainable Aviation Fuel was born by a group of international aviation organizations to encourage the use of SAF by increasing the awareness of its safety and availability and the use of it by OEMs, ground handlers, and owners/operators regionally, nationally and internationally. It also seeks to promote a build out of infrastructure to increase SAF’s manufacture as well as its further development.
Those organizations behind the coalition are the Canadian Business Aviation Association, Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative, European Business Aviation Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, International Business Aviation Council, National Air Transportation Association, and NBAA.
In August the coalition released a guide, “Fueling the Future,” which details how industry leaders can introduce SAF into their operations and accelerate its adoption, at the same time reduction greenhouse gas emissions.
In September the coalition hosted its first Sustainable Business Aviation Fuels Summit, an two-day online event that gathered a constellation of experts encompassing all facets of the industry including operators, legislators, regulators, fuel suppliers, and others to determine how best and how quickly to ramp up the acceptance, demand, and supply for SAF, which is viewed as one of the tentpoles in achieving the industry’s goals of carbon emissions reduction.
Among the topics explored in depth was book-and-claim, a mechanism whereby an operator looking to use SAF in an area where it isn’t available can purchase it and receive any environmental policy benefits, while the actual fuel is dispensed at a facility where it is available. This system is viewed as crucial to increasing the usage of SAF until it can become widely distributed.
Signature Flight Support/Neste/NetJets
In September, Signature Flight Support launched the Signature Renew industry sustainability program, including agreements with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) provider Neste and private jet operator NetJets, which connected all segments of the fuel supply chain from producer to end-user. Under the deal with Neste, Signature purchased 5 million gallons of SAF that would be used to establish permanent supplies of the alternative fuel at its FBOs at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and at London Luton Airport (EGGW) in the UK. Customers purchasing SAF at Signature SFO can take advantage of the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) tax incentive programs, while those at London Luton can reduce carbon offsetting needs for the EU’s ETS.
As launch customer for Signature supplied SAF at SFO, NetJets committed to purchase up to 3 million gallons, which is expected to cover all of its flights from SFO as well as from its Columbus, Ohio headquarters using book-and-claim. The SAF purchase agreement is the largest by an FBO operator to date and is the first step in Signature’s goal of being the world’s first 100 percent sustainably-supplied FBO in the first quarter of 2021.
Neste announced earlier this summer that it had for the first time delivered SAF to SFO via the existing multi-product pipeline designed for the transport of fossil fuels and other oil products for use by commercial airlines.
Bombardier Global 7500 Environmental Product Declaration
In June, Bombardier Aviation achieved a first in sustainability when its Global 7500 became the first business jet to receive an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) through The International EPD System. Verified by a third-party verified to international ISO standards (ISO 14025 and related—for Type III environmental declarations), the EPD discloses detailed environmental information about the Global 7500’s lifecycle, such as CO2 emissions, noise, water consumption, and other key environmental impact indicators. Based in Sweden, The International EPD System has a library of published EPDs for products from 31 countries in an effort to foster transparency about environmental lifecycles.
The Canadian airframer acknowledged the declaration as another milestone in its environmental sustainability strategy that so far has included the increased adoption of sustainable alternative fuels (SAF), a reduction of its CO2 footprint, expanded aircraft recyclability, and further sustainable sourcing.
Bombardier’s pursuit of an EPD was incorporated throughout the development of the Global 7500. The company’s eco-design team applied product innovation lifecycle processes throughout the 7500’s development to ensure that the ultra-long-range business jet minimized its impact on the environment from design to the aircraft’s end-of-life.
That involved a focus on health, safety, and environmental considerations during design, production, support, and end-of-life. In addition, this approach involved years of collaboration with the supply chain. Operational lifecycles, including an evaluation of noise and fuel burn, are considered. Further, Bombardier considered recyclability and recovery rates for end-of-life, reporting that material recycling and energy recovery aggregate to an 85 percent recoverability rate by weight for the Global 7500.
VistaJet Sustainability in Aviation Pledge
A partnership struck earlier this year between sustainable aviation fuel provider (SAF) SkyNRG and VistaJet enables its users to voluntarily pay for the volume of SAF consumed in their flight through a book and claim mechanism. Exercising such an action allows a user to receive environmental credits while SAF is dispensed into a different aircraft where the environmentally friendly fuel is available.
It’s part of VistaJet’s Sustainability in Aviation pledge that it made earlier this year. Through its sustainability initiatives, VistaJet has introduced a carbon offset purchase program, in which it has seen an 80 percent acceptance rate among its customers and the offset of nearly 100,000 tons of CO2. VistaJet also has added fuel consumption reduction technology to automate flight optimization and management of its global fleet, which has resulted in an 8 percent improvement in fuel burn per flight. The company is also moving to source the electricity that is supplied to its offices from only renewable sources.